Neil E

Swapping the run-flat tyres for proper rubber transforms the car. The later models have a tyre repair kit or it's possible to fit a small space saver wheel if preferred.

Fitting is easy and takes 10 minutes tops. Simply lift off the plastic strut covers, undo 3 nuts each side, place the brace over the studs and secure with the 3 nuts on each side. (The plastic cosmetic covers won't go back on) If you are near to Gloucester, I'm sure the seller would fit it free.

Sounds like a good hifi plan. I will be envious of the air ride too. I'm not easily convinced of the benefits of some of the intakes I see constructed. I've done my exhaust. Looks good, makes a nice a sound and it feels more eager through the gears but as expected, the dyno confirmed no significant power increase over standard. It's worth doing a bit of research, there are different ways of modifying it.

I doubt any harm will come to the head unit, its the amp that's taking the load. It may be possible to save the sub with a repair kit as a cheap fix. If you go down the route of replacing the head unit and installing multi amps or a 5 channel amp I shall follow that with interest. I would really like to swap my speakers and amp for JL/Alpine/Rainbow/Genesis but I know if I get started it will quickly go from spending hundreds to thousands so for now I am resisting and making do. I replaced the head unit with an Alpine double din multimedia unit so can help with the cabling if you do go for it and want to use the existing amp for a while. On the subject of air, that would be good use of the rear seat space, most of the tanks I've seen are fitted into the boot. Air is definitely the best option for our roads but again the favoured Accuair solution looks great but it's too rich for my pocket.

Take care with the stock amp at high levels with the 4 ohm speakers. I don't know how robust it is. I am aware of several failing in the US. The 8 inch free air sub fires at the rear seats from the boot and considering the power constraints it does pretty well. I've seen a few custom sub installs on the back seat and in the rear side panels that look very good. A pair of proper 8 inch subs on either side might be enough, the hardest part will be installing the O gauge cable from the battery to the boot.

Okay, well I haven't seriously looked into swapping drivers on mine yet but you may find the sub in the boot is16 ohm so take care. I can't confirm it first hand but a quick search suggests the door speakers were originally 8 ohm. I assume the new Focals present a 4 ohm load to the amp. At some stage I will probably swap the sub but use a separate amp with separate power taking the bass frequency range directly from the head unit. That should be a 'relatively' cost effective solution.

Well if it's the door motor/actuating mechanism it's not too difficult to replace it. I know there are a few tutorials around already but if you need help with instruction on how to get to it and replace it, let me know. I have a few pictures and can add a few quick notes for clarity. The gear surround, heater controls and radio unit come out quite easily. The tricky part is pulling off the wood facia on either side for access to the nav unit. There are some concealed screws and then it just pulls off but requires force and control to get it off without breaking the securing tabs.

Captain Fizz Reflected sound, yes agreed it can't help the sound stage, road noise, what's that? The LS has electric heated and cooled sofas in the front. Wish I hadn't sold mine. The SC is really nice but not the same. At cruising speed, the LS is so quiet you hear more from the car ahead. I would definitely be accepted into the dinosaur club but I'm not familiar with Alice in Chains. (Quick check on you tube.....sounds very interesting) If I had to choose one album it would be too difficult - Pulse maybe? Tomorrow it would be something else.

Indeed it wouldn't be wise to become distracted whilst driving. Crime of the Century. What a great piece of work. I recall doing blind listening tests to some of the tracks on there (including some in cars but not whilst driving) testing cables, amps, CD players....with younger ears of course, when I really could tell the difference. I haven't visited it for a while but I recall Talk Audio was the place for all car audio matters. I haven't been on LOC very much for some time until recently and had forgotten how good it is. I've followed the Soarer community mostly, those frequently overheat.... the forum threads, not the cars.

Sorry, going off topic a bit but yes I do like technology. With a bit of effort I replaced the head unit with an Alpine and managed to integrate it with the existing controls. The ipad / iphone can plug into that as well.

Not at all, a list to be proud of. Looking at it has prompted me to dig out some Supertramp. Yes agreed, it's extremely difficult and costly to create a balance of sound with depth and clarity in the car. ML/Pioneer/Fujitsu10 kit is very good as a factory system, particularly the ML set up in the LS I found but there is a small minority that chase the dream.

Good work. Yes I later read about that seat fix too, never heard of it before, you never stop learning about these cars. Wow did you really need new seals, £310 sounds a lot?

Great taste in music there Steve. Does your love of high end audio extend to the components in the car?

One of mine. Just a bit of fun 11 OUT is how I see it.

Hi John We need a little more detail in the description so apologies if you have already checked these or I haven't quite understood the issues. If it's just the memory function that isn't working for the seats and the steering wheel, perhaps the battery has been disconnected and the seats and steering column just need resetting on the memory button. If the seats and steering wheel aren't working at all then it may be a blown fuse. From memory, it's possible to adjust the boot lid slightly with the 2 bolts with rubber covers on either side but first check that the rubber weather seal is fitted correctly. I can't check on my car at the moment as it's being painted but I do know that it is very easy to disturb the rubber seal whilst cleaning and that might be stopping the boot from sitting just flush.

Hi Yes there are various products that can be attached to provide USB, Bluetooth, Ipod, Iphone, etc connectivity for the SC430. Vaistech and Grom are two of the most popular 'plug and play' solutions but there are others, It's also possible to replace the radio cassette with an aftermarket double din unit that incorporates a USB digital interface but that would involve a bit more effort. If you are competent with car electrics it shouldn't be too much of a problem whichever route you choose.

Lol, I like it. Good answer. The last mechanic to drive my car said to his mates it was like flying a plane. It only had its usual dash that day but sometimes I run the OBD software to an Ipad just to see what's going on.

I think Colin has covered this very well already but if you think logically, the only circuits that are still live when you leave the car are those that provide a constant 12V supply. That's the place to look. I can tell my RX battery is beginning to fail. In warm weather it will start after being left for a week or more. In the cold it's sluggish, after 5 days. It will start but the cold cranking is noticeably weaker. When I buy the biggest new battery I can fit in there, I'm sure it will be a lot better and I would expect it to retain 12V for 3 weeks or more. When I bought it, the dealer said it wouldn't start because it hadn't been used in 2 weeks and sure enough it didn't. He said it's common with Lexus, I agreed and explained it didn't bother me, I would buy a new one if it needed it but its been okay until recently. It was a similar story with the SC, I've just replaced that one and it's much better but I can't say how long it would last as I try to keep using both cars. I'm satisfied that both cars do not have any electrical faults but I know the battery will eventually discharge if left long enough. That's been my experience with LS430, GS430, Soarers and IS models to different degrees and none of them had any faults to cause a battery drain. Some even started after I left the boot open or an interior light on for more than a day. I agree it's right and reasonable to expect a car to be capable of being left for say a long holiday and start without issue. My experience suggests it does very much depend on the condition and capacity of the battery.

Sounds good, I wondered what they would look like without the black paint Mine were curbed quite a bit. Considered a refurb but was always going to go for wider ones so now I have a spare set of the later wheels. I plan to stick some winter tyres on them until the spring but I also have an RX with all season tyres so may just get by this year.

Nice work there Craig, very impressive looking car, great attention to detail and it seems you have been doing your homework. Are the Focal 6 x 9 drivers a match for impedance and did you disconnect the tweeters or swap them with the originals? I've found ML kit to be quite awkward to work with so if it sounds good then you did very well. I would be interested to know what you intend to do with the sub as it's a job on my list for the future. the fronts sound okay so I'll probably leave them alone.

Yes, agree with all those points. Sounds like we need Peter to earn us some SC go faster points on the TG test track at Dunsfold. Thanks for pointing out the fuel filler switch adjacent to the boot release issue, I make that mistake a lot and just blame it on old age or fat fingers.

Jump starting the car shouldn't blow anything unless it was done incorrectly. Did the body shop remove any part of the centre console? Does the Nav screen still tilt? I doubt the workshop could have tested the signal/current to the Nav screen door in 5 minutes. I would say it takes experienced hands 15 minutes to get to the sat nav unit. Unless they are Lexus experts checking the wiring diagram might take a bit longer too.

They do, it certainly isn't even close to being the worst car in the world but to be fair to top gear, Toyota Lexus did make a few really silly mistakes with the SC. Run flat tyres made the ride very un-Lexus like. It's a bit of an odd design Ugly wheels Back seats with less room than the Soarer. Front seats that can squash rear passengers legs. Also less comfortable front seats than it's predecessor and the GS. Old fashioned aerial, even on the later models I have a few other complaints too but I still had to have one and living with it is much better than I thought it would be.

Yes you are correct Neil the strut brace is identical to the one on ebay it was made in the UK by the same people at the same time. The SC430 can be left alone and used as a cruiser or it can be driven in a 'spirited' manner or it can be tweaked to suit your purpose. It's a lovely well appointed 'sports coupe' to get 2 people from A to B with the roof up or down but I also think it's valid to follow the lead set by it's makers and turn it into something more of a drivers car if that's your inclination. The SC has been a very successful racing car. As explained earlier by Colin the chassis and suspension is based on the GS. The GS430 and twin turbo Aristo were considered thunder-saloons in their day so that's a taste of the heritage. Battery woes.... A good auto electrician should be able to diagnose the fault if one exists but every Toyota Lexus I've owned (8 so far) has drained its battery over time. The SC is more vulnerable than most as it has quite a small standard battery and people often leave them for weeks because they have another car as a daily driver. If I'm going away for 3 weeks or more without the SC I usually lock it up in the garage, disconnect the battery negative lead and reconnect it when I return, 20 seconds and you're done. It takes a matter of minutes to reset everything. I appreciate that's not a good idea from an insurance/security point of view but if your battery is completely discharged then your alarm isn't any good either. When I bought the SC in June it had the standard Halfords replacement unit and would discharge within a week. I now have the biggest Exide battery I could fit in the tray and I know it will last for at least 3 weeks. If you put a multi-meter across the battery when everything is turned off you should be able to see if there is any significant voltage drop. If there is no obvious voltage drain by something like an interior light being left on or the alarm being activated without you knowing, then it's probably time for a new battery.

Yes indeed and in Japan. We do it here too but not on the same scale. I agree the reflectors are annoying so they have been deleted.